Finding my Marbles

Son's glass workshop in the garage is nearly complete now, he has an oxygen tank, propane tank, a new glasswork torch, the kiln, all the safety gear, from metal blinds (less flammable than fabric!) to the fire extinguisher and flashback arrestors on the gas tanks. He's taking it all very seriously, and wants to do this for the rest of his life!

With the oxygen on board, he can now get hotter temperatures, and make bigger things - like art marbles! (To see the sorts of things he's aspiring to make, check out this site - or search on "art marble" for a ton more.) These are hand-crafted, so getting them spherical is quite a trick. He's improving each time! I thought you'd like to see a few (so we can say we knew him before he got famous ;) ...

This is the largest one so far, about as big as a 50¢ piece (Australian).

This is a little one, can you see the swirl of red beneath the glittery stuff, and the 'turbulent' edge of black at the surface? This sort of design is called a 'galaxy' marble.

A chip of dichroic glass sits inside this one, and looks a bit like an opal.

Another swirly galaxy type marble, with a glaze of frit (the reddish stuff).

And his first attempt at a flower marble!

They're rather tricky to photograph, always best seen when held up to the light, and looked at from all angles! But hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea.

In a couple of weeks he's having a full weekend of private tuition with renown glass artist Peter Minson ... this is basically his tertiary education, and he's launching into it with a passion!